Book of the Week: 3D Printing in Medicine

This week’s selection is the detailed “3D Printing In Medicine” by author Deepak M Kalaskar.

Medical applications are one of the few select areas of industry in which 3D printing has taken hold. Due to the current expense and complexity of using 3D printing, only certain industries have yet been able to profit from the tech. Another way of saying this is that industries accustomed to high prices for products and services find expensive 3D printing to fit in very well. Other industries, not so much. 

In this book Kalaskar reviews the use of 3D printing in one of those industries, the medical field. 

Medical applications of 3D printing a somewhat different from other uses in that they have quite a few more constraints. While most 3D printed objects may be used in machines or merely as decorative items, medical 3D prints are very often implanted with the human body. This requires not only the use of specific materials, but also attention to purity and cleanliness that is at regulatory levels. 

Kalaskar has collaborated with experts on specific aspects of medical 3D printing for several sections of the book, ensuring the best information is presented. 

Kalaskar’s book begins with an introduction to 3D printing concepts and how they could be applied, both in reality and potentially in the medical field. Importantly, he reviews the materials most commonly used in medical 3D printing, including metals, ceramics, hydrogels and others. 

Based on that foundation, Kalaskar then delves deeper into specific applications of medical 3D printing, including topics such as: 

• Computational analyses
• In situ patient 3D printing
• In vitro disease models
• Small scale fluidics
• Pharmaceutical product printing
• Four dimensional 3D printing

And he also reviews the equipment types often involved in medical 3D printing beyond the 3D printers, such as MRI equipment that can capture 3D models of patient tissues. 

It’s an excellent book to acquire if you are in the medical field seeking further insight into all aspects of applying 3D printing. 

Via Amazon